Arousal p3

Author: Denise Partlow

Instagram: @modernk9 Carolinas

Like everything else we have talked about, it’s about going back to basics. Your dog needs to have a good foundation of impulse control. You must incorporate this into your training but slowly though. You cannot start off with a level 10 activity when your dog is only a level 1.

Impulse control activities are going to be the kinds of activities that require your dog to stay focused on you and the task given even though they are among chaos. So the task you might give your dog could be anyone of the following but not limited to:

-Focus
-Sit stay
-Down stay
-Place stay
-Heel

In your training you would ask your dog to complete a task and continue completing that task while you incorporate any of the following things or a combination of them:

-human movement (walking/running)
-kids running/playing
-object movement (i.e. throwing toys)
-noises (items dropping, tinfoil, music etc)
-opening of doors
-disappearing out of sight
-dropping food/toys nearby
-other dogs walking/running by
-passing vehicles

Sometimes we might put them in a position stay and help them to view the chaos and stay calm. And other times we might ask them to continue walking on past the chaos. Depending on the situation you may even practice recall during the chaos-but it would be important throughout all of this that your tone is the same as it always is.

Some ways that I have found reduce the level of arousal are allowing the dog to view what’s triggering them for two seconds, and then capturing their attention immediately after and either food scattering or even interacting/playing or walking away from the situation.

No matter what though, you have to incorporate every challenge you can possibly think of so your dog knows how to handle all the craziness that comes with the outside environment. It doesn’t mean that your dog is going to be perfect during the first real-life challenge you encounter; but it will definitely make it easier on him and you because you will have a plan.

And the last thing I will mention is practicing calm. It’s so important that dogs learn how to settle in all types of environments.